Apple's Dominance In Tablets Ends This Year (IDC via ValueWalk) Smartphones and tablets powered by the Android operating system will challenge Apple's dominance in the tablet market, according to the latest analysis released by the International Data Corporation (IDC). Based on the study, Apple's leadership in the tablet market will end for the first time since the introduction of the iPad. The market share of the iPhone and iPad maker is projected to decline from 51 percent to 46 percent this year. On the other hand, the market share of tablet devices powered by Android will increase from 41.5 percent to 48.6 percent. The report concluded that the fluctuation in tablet market share is driven by the extreme popularity of tablets eight inches and smaller powered by Android. Read >>

Consumers Favor Apps Over Mobile Websites (Compuware via Econsultancy)
Compuware
In the early days of m-commerce it was often asked whether brands should opt for a mobile app or a mobile website. I think most marketers now accept that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, and the decision should be made based on the business needs and aims of individual companies. However a new report from Compuware suggests that consumer preference is strongly in favor of apps (85 percent) ahead of mobile sites. The most common reason for this is that apps are seen to be more convenient (55 percent), faster (48 percent) and easier to browse (40 percent). Read >>

How Apple Gets All The Good Apps (All Things Digital) Apple tightly controls its software and hardware, and is fiercely competitive in battling its rivals, especially in the mobile market. And yet, while the company never creates apps for anyone else's mobile system or device, they allow all kinds of apps on Apple devices. That makes those devices the sort of Switzerlands of the mobile world. If you buy an iPhone or iPad, you get Apple-written mobile apps and services which aren't available on other phones and tablets. But you can get first-class versions of competitors' official apps. So, iPhone and iPad users who prefer apps from other big mobile platform makers don't have to switch. They have access right on their Apple devices to major apps from these competing platforms. But people with non-Apple mobile devices can't get Apple's mobile apps and services. This is obviously a lopsided situation in Apple's favor. But it stems from the different business models of the big rivals. Read >>

Apple Really Needs To Kill It With iOS 7 (readwrite mobile) Six years in, the polish is starting to rub off. After a historic launch and years of grand slam updates to its hardware and software, the iPhone now appears more vulnerable than ever. To retains its luster, Apple needs to make iOS 7 its boldest update yet. Android is evolving faster than iOS these days. For years, that seemed impossible. Early Android phones felt like rusty copycats of Apple's impeccably slick mobile platform, with far fewer apps available to their users. With each upgrade to Android, iPhone owners laughed as the platform seemingly struggled to keep up with Apple's bulletproof user experience. And for a while, it did struggle. But slowly, that changed. Next thing we knew, Android commanded 75 percent of the smartphone market. Today, instead of mocking Android, many prominent iPhone lovers are switching to Google. Read >>

Samsung Outspends Apple On Advertising (WSJ) In the smartphone business, following the money leads right to Samsung. Outspent by rival Apple more than three-to-one in advertising for mobile phones in the U.S. in 2011, Samsung responded with a marketing blitz on TV, billboards, the Internet and print media that moved the Korean company into the pole position last year. In 2012, Samsung spent $401 million advertising its phones in the U.S. to Apple's $333 million, according to ad research and consulting firm Kantar Media. The onslaught — including ads that poked fun at Apple while dubbing Samsung devices "The Next Big Thing" — has helped. Read >>

Mobile's Impact On Advertising Is Going To Be 'Terrible' (The Financial Times via The App Side) How excited is the advertising world about roaming on the new plains of mobile devices? Well, not everybody is enthusiastic. The Financial Times has a very good two-part feature on the challenges of mobile advertising, noting that even Apple has been forced to drop its minimum campaign-spend commitment for its iAds. "Traffic is exploding, but ad dollars are not keeping pace," as the FT puts it. But some industry experts fear that the rise of mobile advertising will also have a harmful effect on wider digital advertising revenues too. "People were concerned with the transition from print to digital and TV to digital. Get ready, it's going to get a whole lot worse," says IPG Mediabrands executive Quentin George. IDC's Karsten Weide agrees: "It is going to be terrible. It is going to be disruptive. Mobile is going to have a really negative impact online and on the broader media market." Read >>

FCC approves T-Mobile / MetroPCS Deal (Engadet) FCC head Julius Genachowski has made it official: Deutsche Telekom can proceed with its acquisition of MetroPCS. This newly created corporate entity (which will assume the T-Mobile U.S. branding) will be able to combine all PCS, AWS-1 and 700MHz spectrum licenses across 248 Cellular Market Areas. Citing the competitive benefits it would achieve on "both the local and national levels," the commission has given a thumbs up to the transaction, noting that any potential service overlaps or public interest harm are outweighed by the possibility of a greater LTE buildout and the "deployment of a more robust, national network" for the nation's number four operator. Read >>

Modern Mobile Etiquette: Don't Leave Me A Voicemail (Gawker) There are two kinds of phone users in the world: people who leave voicemails for other people and people who ignore voicemails from other people. The New York Times ran an article by Nick Bilton laying out ground rules for digital etiquette in the world of unlimited texting, smartphones, and Twitter. He argued that leaving a voicemail was "impolite" because it wastes the receiver's time it takes to retrieve information that could be conveyed via text. He also bragged about ignoring a dozen voicemails from his father and revealed that he and his mother now "communicate mostly through Twitter." Read >>